The National Symphony Orchestra is about to lose its captain, when Music Director Leonard Slatkin steps down at the end of this season. Slatkin is clearly not ready to retire, although he has hinted that he is all too ready to move past the discomforts of his tenure in Washington. He will split his time among the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic in London, and the Pittsburgh Symphony, as well as teaching at Indiana University. Having reportedly failed to seal a deal with Principal Guest Conductor Iván Fischer to succeed Slatkin as Music Director, the NSO has engaged the Hungarian maestro as Principal Conductor through 2010, time that will allow the orchestra to conduct a thorough search for a new Music Director. The NSO's concerts last week and this week offer a chance for audiences to settle in with Fischer. Friday's all-Beethoven concert displayed all of Fischer's admirable qualities on the podium, especially his way with this central composer, even in works that, it must be said, are overplayed.

Not only were all four selections on this program by Beethoven, they were all composed in the years from 1805 to 1810, enough middle-period Beethoven to stun a small cat. The most impressive performance was the conclusion of the first half, Nikolaj Znaider playing Beethoven's monumental violin concerto. Znaider's 2005 recording of the work with the Israel Philharmonic was very good if not indispensable. Live, the same combination of words could be applied, only because the bar has been set so high by Julia Fischer, who has played the concerto in the area twice recently, with the Baltimore Symphony and with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Znaider's piercing E string sound can be like a razor, in a good way, although his multiple stops were labored in the first movement cadenza. Where Znaider excelled was in hushed playing, often at unexpected places, like around the middle of the second movement. The tall Znaider has plenty of zing in his right arm, but it was the soft moments that stood out as memorable.

Photo of conductor Iván Fischer by Joost van Velsen, courtesy of Harrison/Parrott

Fischer's individualized approach to these familiar works led to some strange manipulations of tempo, at times robbing the violin concerto of its pulse in favor of grandiose sweep, reflecting Fischer's broadening, extravagant gestures. One of the Beethoven overtures would probably have been enough for this concert, and the NSO has played both the Coriolan and Egmont overtures in the recent past. Disastrous oboe playing (not Acting Principal Rebecca Henderson, who shone in the violin concerto and Fifth Symphony) and lack of agreement across the orchestra marred the Egmont, in which only the concluding "Symphony of Victory" came across in a unified way. The Coriolan was more direct and steadfast, with the players following Fischer as a single unit.

Fischer gave the impression of seeking to make no bar of the concluding piece, the Fifth Symphony, seem ordinary or expected. The impetuous tempo of the first movement made the famous opening motif, heard throughout the piece, rarely sound together across the orchestra, something that a clearer gesture would probably help. Fischer's reading of the score seemed best thought out in the second movement, where he insisted on an extremely soft build-up to each new variation. As in the violin concerto, it was these soft moments that were the high point of the evening, not least for how the lightened texture brought out the often covered sound of the contrabassoon, used for the first time by Beethoven in this symphony's last movement. If not an all-around success, this program offers high hopes for Fischer's increasing role with the NSO.

In this week's NSO concerts (November 8 to 10), Iván Fischer will lead a highly anticipated performance of Mozart's first flute concerto with Emmanuel Pahud, as well as a knockout selection of underplayed Czech music. Full-time students should look into the $10 tickets offered through the Attend! program, for Thursday's performance only.